In an unfortunate turn of events, we seem to have lost some of the vacation photos. Don’t hyperventilate yet, though. All my photos are still intact. We’ll get the rest at some point in time, but you probably won’t get to see them. Meh.

Our second day in Rome (day one here) was sunny and generally lovely. We hit all the tourist spots, but didn’t actually go into these places. Let’s call what we did the anti-tourist tour of Rome. With three kids under 6, we weren’t going to attempt the snaking lines into the Colosseum or onto Palatine Hill, for example. Still, we found ourselves drooling over the Roman Forum, Altare della Patria and the Colosseum.

Folks, the Colosseum. It’s the oldest building we’ve ever seen. And goodness, it’s impressive.

Still, nothing hit me in the feels like the Pantheon. A lifelong dream to stand under its great arches was realised on this vacation. I remember studying its architecture in art class, no older than fourteen, and falling in love with a culture older than time. The Pantheon lead to a strange obsession with ancient civilisations and mythology in a teenager. And, impressive as the Colosseum was, the Pantheon stole my heart. If you go there, you’ll hear its beating echo under the dome. 😛

Anyway. Other highlights of the day included a secluded garden in a villa, caramel ice cream so yummy we had to go back for more, running after bubbles in the piazza del Popolo, a swing by the Disney shop, fantastic pasta and the best tiramisu I’ve ever tasted (I’m an addict), and blistered feet on cobbled streets.

If you want to go into the Pantheon with me, swing by on Friday. It’s not open in the evenings, so we went back the next day. Sorry, should have put out a spoiler warning there. 😛

Hope the midweek is treating you well. Have a good one.

Yolandie.